May 13, 2016

Detective Michael Milici, a longtime community affairs officer in the 66th Precinct in Borough Park, was charged with failing to cooperate with the ongoing investigation. He faces a range of possible penalties, including the loss of his job.

On March 31, Milici was stripped of his gun and shield and assigned to desk duty for refusing to answer questions about his relationship with two wealthy Jewish businessmen, Jona Rechnitz and Jeremy Reichberg. He stopped showing up regularly for work after being placed on modified duty, NYPD officials said.

He was suspended April 26 when he submitted retirement papers to the NYPD.

“We can’t prevent him from retiring, but if you retire under unresolved charges then you do not retire basically in good order,” Deputy Commissioner Stephen Davis, a police spokesman, said. “If you leave while you’re under charges then you don’t leave under a good light.”

In a related development, NYPD officials said Thursday they have suspended 37 gun licenses — and seized the guns involved — as part of a probe into firearm permits improperly obtained through a broker. The broker is accused of bribing cops to get expedited permits for his clients.

Seventeen more gun license suspensions are pending. When a license is suspended, the weapon is surrendered while the license is being reviewed.

The broker, Shaya Lichtenstein, allegedly paid off two cops to get firearms applications approved in as little as three weeks. The process usually takes more than a year.

Lichtenstein allegedly paid a sergeant and a police officer about $6,000 per permit, and charged his clients $18,000 each for the service.

Meanwhile, the NYPD is reportedly ending the practice of allowing expediters to help people get gun permits.

A few years ago New York passed new gun laws such that gun owners’ information was not subject to FOIA requests. But, it’s worth a try to submit an FOIA request for the identities of suspended license holders.